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Pompeo Names Morgan Ortagus as State Department Spokeswoman

Ortagus is a Naval reserve officer and has worked for the government in foreign policy roles.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially named former Fox News contributor Morgan Ortagus as the new State Department spokesperson on Wednesday, CNN reports. “Morgan brings outstanding credentials and a record of public service to the position,” Pompeo wrote in a statement. “She has worked her entire career in financial services, consulting, and diplomacy.” A source told the network that Ortagus turned down opportunities to join the administration “several” times before taking the State Department gig. Ortagus is a Navy reserve officer with extensive foreign policy experience, including working as a spokesperson for the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Bush administration and worked in public diplomacy in Baghdad for several months. Additionally, Ortagus worked as an intelligence analyst and was an attaché in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the Treasury Department. CNN found that in 2016, Ortagus publicly criticized Trump’s “isolationist foreign policy approach” and said the president’s mocking of the physically and mentally disabled was “disgusting.” Former department spokesperson Heather Nauert was also featured on Fox News as a host.